Okay, I was all ready with my article heading about a nu variant and then the WHO threw me a curve ball and called it “omicron” instead. I’ve decided to press on with a small variation to the title. Like me, your social media timeline and news feed has probably been full of stuff about… Continue reading What about the not so Nu variant?
Category: Church life
Wounded, well-meaning and wolves
I recently referred to an article by Jonathan Leeman which led to a conversation about Spiritual abuse. In this article, I want to engage a little bit further with Jonathan’s article. I want to highlight some areas where I think he’s unfairly criticised, some important points he has made which need hearing and also an… Continue reading Wounded, well-meaning and wolves
Weaponising spiritual abuse
I’m encouraged to see that The FIEC are keeping the focus on the problem of abuse with a series of podcasts involving John Stevens and Adrian Reynolds looking at spiritual abuse in particular. The term “spiritual abuse” has been at times controversial with people debating its definition and even its existence. I saw one definition… Continue reading Weaponising spiritual abuse
COVID update for churches 23/11/2021
Here’s an update on where we are in terms of the current UK COVID data. Cases UK case numbers have been increasing for the past 13 days (with a small interruption on the 17th November. This reflects daily increases in English reported cases of between 8-10% towards the back end of last week and 13-18%… Continue reading COVID update for churches 23/11/2021
Do you take the role of pastor/elder seriously enough?
What exactly does it mean to be a pastor or an elder in a church? First of all, you will notice that I am in effect using the words “pastor” and “elder” interchangeably because we are essentially talking about the same thing. An elder is someone who carries leadership authority within a family/clan/tribe linked to… Continue reading Do you take the role of pastor/elder seriously enough?
Baptism, paedo-baptism and the conscience clause
I’ve been writing a few blog posts about baptism and paedobaptism over the past few days and of course, this brings us to the question about what to do when there’s disagreement within a church on Baptism. My friend Stephen Kneale is very clear in his mind on this. He writes about it here. Steve’s… Continue reading Baptism, paedo-baptism and the conscience clause
Another approach to the Sunday question
How might we approach the question of Sundays and church attendance? Well the first thing we have to do is to recognise the dangers that exist for pastors and elders when it comes to the issue. It seems that Sunday attendance is so obviously a good and right thing to do that there can’t possibly… Continue reading Another approach to the Sunday question
Sundays, Sabbaths and Legalism
Yesterday, I wrote about the decline of the Sunday evening service. This was in response to some discussion about it on social media. In that conversation, one person shared a link to this article which seeks to set out a Biblical basis for attending both a morning and evening service. I wonder what you make… Continue reading Sundays, Sabbaths and Legalism
Twice on a Sunday?
I’ve written about how following COVID the church needs to think in terms of re gathering and re-planting. There are people who were on the fringes of church life who are currently not returning. As well as this, the pandemic also seems to have hastened a move towards less frequent Sunday attendance. In the past… Continue reading Twice on a Sunday?
Vouchsafe thy preferences
Some of the things that Christians choose to argue is “interesting” to say the least. Here’s Ben Crosby arguing for the use of archaic language in church liturgy. I say “interesting” because it’s an odd priority and the reasoning is surprising. Go back 30 years and I could imagine making the argument for continuing to… Continue reading Vouchsafe thy preferences
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